In decades past, uncoated cast iron stayed in the kitchen while its prettier, enameled cousin got to take the esteemed trip out to the dining room. But chef Justin Haifley likes the rustic look of the skillets on his tables at The Tavern Kitchen and Bar, where cozy, comfort food is given a contemporary bent. In fact, individually sized cast-iron dishes replace shiny white plates for all of the side dishes and most of the desserts at the Valley Park restaurant. Like Haifley’s truffle mushroom mac-n-cheese – a rich combination of a basic roux to which Haifley stirs in half-and-half and a little Parmesan, followed by cremini mushrooms, sharp green onions, a little fresh thyme and a glug of Madeira wine. This ultimate carb indulgence gets capped with an ode to the decadent: deeply earthy, garlicky truffle oil.

Click here to read the rest of March’s feature “The Iron Lady: When it comes to kitchen affairs, this grande dame rules.”

Get the recipe for Haifley’s Truffle Mushroom Mac-N-Cheese here.

— photo by Carmen Troesser

By Kellie Hynes

Tags: cast iron, Justin Haifley, Mac-N-Cheese, The Tavern Kitchen & Bar, Truffle Mushroom Mac-N-Cheese

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 5th, 2013 at 11:29 am and is filed under Awesome eats, Make This. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.